XMen IV: Project Genesis
by Scarlet Blais
Summary: The mutant community hardly had a chance to calm down before a new threat arose… a more evil, more devilish… a more sinister threat. Expect old faces from the film versions as well as new faces from the comics. Contains spoilers for XMen films 1, 2, and 3


**Author's Notes: **  
This is a very rough draft of a story I am working on that takes place after the movie X-Men 3: The Last Stand. I wanted to bring more heroes and villains from the comic into the spotlight.

I must say that I had a lot of difficulty writing Jubilee.

This rough draft took me two weeks to write. Yikes!

Please feel free to point out any grammatical errors you may find. I know this story is littered with all kinds of errors, which is why I say it is a rough draft.

Enjoy.

**Starring: **  
Bobby "_Iceman_" Drake, Jubilation "_Jubilee_" Lee, Kitty "_Shadowcat_" Pryde, Logan "_Wolverine_", Marie "_Rogue_" D'Ancanto, Ororo "_Storm_" Munroe, Piotr "_Colossus_" Rasputin, Warren "_Angel_" Worthington III  
**AND MORE!**

**VERY Special Appearances: **  
Hmm. Wouldn't you like to know. _evil grin_

**Spoiler Warning: **  
May contain spoilers for X-Men 1 and 2. Definitely contains spoilers for X-Men 3: The Last Stand.

* * *

**X-Men 4: **  
**Extreme Mutants: Project Genesis**

The mutant community hardly had a chance to calm down before a new threat arose… a more evil, more devilish... a more sinister threat.

* * *

**Short Introduction**  
**Five years ago.**

Smoke billowed from the lips of a shadowy figure walking down a dark hall. His destination was a door on the left. A sliver of brilliant white light that shone from under the door was a helpful guide. In his hand he fingered a stiff piece of paper.

Finally he stood in front of the door, opening it slowly. He peers past the threshold, his strange eyes roving the room. Then he spots a man hunched over a table. There was a syringe in his hand and he was injecting the contents into a nameless, lifeless body.

"Ah, you've come as I asked you," he said in a low, menacing voice. He boldly kept his back to the arrival and continued on his work. "Good. I have a task for you. Close the door."

The man, who had still been standing in the shadow of the threshold, stepped into the light of the room and slowly closed the door behind him.

* * *

**Chapter One: Probabilities & Anomalies**  
**The not too distant future.**

Sweat ran down Bobby's face. He stood near Rogue peering through the underbrush at a giant monstrosity. The giant was ripping through trees chasing after Kitty Pryde, its eyes glowing red with murderous ferocity.

As she passed through solid stone, Jubilee jumped down from a low hanging bough. She kicked the giant mockingly and cursed at it before delivering explosive shocks. The giant shook its wide head dazedly before growling down at Jubilee. The shocks did not have the effect that she was looking for; instead it only enraged him more. It lunged after her as she began to run away.

Piotr Rasputin came barreling through the path after the giant, swinging a heavy stump he had uprooted. His actions did not daunt the giant from Jubilee who had run into a thick spider web and was spinning around blindly.

"Colossus, look out!" shouted Bobby just as the giants hand came raging down toward Piotr, swatting him across the terrain.

Then the giant continued to Jubilee, its devilish eyes aflame with malevolence. Greedily he began to reach down to pick her up, to squeeze her fragile form, feel the pop and crack of her skeleton in his hands. She clawed desperately at the thick and sticky cobwebs that had netted over her face and body.

Though Rogue tried to cling to him, Bobby finally dove from the underbrush using his powers. The giant turned to him, the freezing cold on his skin halting his attention on Jubilee. Bobby ducked under the giants swinging, apelike arms. Ice blast after ice blast he threw at the giant but it would still pursue him, merely shaking off his assaults as if it were merely bee stings.

Piotr crawled over to were Rogue was crouched. She stared in terror as her boyfriend narrowly missed another heavy blow from the giant. He tapped her on the shoulder and whispered in her ear.

Finally Jubilee had peeled off enough of the cobweb to get her bearings. When she saw Bobby struggling with the giant she helped him by sending more explosive energy. The giant began to get confused about where he should be attacking and started to aimlessly throw his arms in which ever direction an assault came. Bobby and Jubilee were tag-teaming him with their powers, not entirely sure what else they could do since nothing else seemed to work, when all of a sudden Rogue came flying up toward the giant.

Bobby glanced over to where they had been hiding before and saw that Piotr was standing there in his metallic form. He watched as his girlfriend landed on the giants head, her hands firmly gripping a wad of its stringy grey hair and the upper lobe of its ear.

The giant gasped and tried to claw at her, but instead ripped off his own ear. Clinging to the wiry strands of hair, Rogue moved away from the bleeding and climbed to the giant's pate. Soon the giant was beginning to weaken, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Both Bobby and Jubilee had to quickly maneuver away as it swayed and then collapsed with a loud crash, splintering the trees underneath it.

Eerily the terrain and the giant began to dissolve.

"Simulation complete," said a mock voice.

The kids all exited the Danger Room and were greeted by Logan. He stood in front of them with his arms crossed.

"How did we do, Wolvie?" Jubilee asked excitedly.

Logan shook his head. "Well I have some critical advice. And when I say some it means I'm going to be picking the entire battle apart."

* * *

It is difficult to run a school with a faculty of two, especially when one is not so keen to be kept on a short leash. For the majority of the time Logan did stick around. His talents in educating the children centered mostly on the less academic side, indulging them with honing their instincts for survival and such. Ororo was left to teach the children the fundamentals. But occasionally he would run off without warning — mourning the death of Jean Grey, Ororo thought — which tended to make things a bit rocky at times.

Ororo, though, could not complain about Logan's trivial involvement with the school; help was help and she was short on seasoned adults. He had threatened that it would only be temporary, until she could designate proper faculty. Ororo was grateful that he lent a hand. She did unleash her anger upon him each time he disappeared for a few days without warning.

Another school day was coming to a close. She was seeing the last few kids out of her class room when a familiar stranger approached. Angel, draped in a long brown trench coat that covered his mutation, was strolling toward Ororo with a parcel in his hands.

"Warren," said Ororo breathlessly. "It's been a while. What do I owe the pleasure?"

Angel was silent for a moment, his face soft but troubled. It seemed his hands trembled as he slowly handed the package to Ororo. She looked down at it confused.

"I had a falling out with my father, again," he said in a hollow voice. "Though I saved his life with my... _mutation_, he still cannot look at me without cringing. I hate to ask this, Ororo, but do I still have a place here in the mansion? I would repay your kindness by offering my assistance to you and the X-Men."

Ororo smiled at him.

"Of course you have a place in the mansion, Warren," she said softly. "You can find that your room remains in the state you left it."

Angel nodded.

"What is this package?"

He shrugged, and then said, "Before I came here a doctor stopped me. I had perched myself, resting, on the rooftop of a medical facility and somehow she knew I was there. She took me in and catered to me for a short while, asking that I would do her a great favor. She said that there was an important package that must be delivered to Ororo Munroe at the Xavier Institute. How she knew that I planned on coming here, she would not say. Though she gave me that —" he pointed to the parcel in Ororo's hand, "— and said it was dire."

"Thank you, Warren," said Ororo.

"I hope you'll excuse me," said Angel. "I'm in need of a shower, and possibly a very long nap."

"Of course."

Angel then proceeded down the hall, leaving Ororo to stare after his retreating form. She was thinking about the parcel and was not sure what to expect from it. Was she certain that she wanted to open the package? This doctor was kind to Angel, yes, but was it all just a scheme? What if there was something dangerous inside! Things had been rather quiet since the mutant cure fad had dissolved, but that did not mean that there was still no danger to her and the students.

Thoughts of a powder form of the mutation cure exploding from the small parcel began to reel through her mind. Then she remembered that the cure could no longer be produced since the fluids of the boy were tucked away safely in this school, out of the reach of inquisitive and mutant fearing scientists. Perhaps it would be best to run the package through a few scientific tests, just to ensure there were no chemicals associated with it. Ororo started toward the basement.

* * *

The recreational room was filled with students lounging in front of the television, sipping their soda and chocolate milk. Kitty Pryde and Rogue were standing over the foos-ball table on opposite sides, their eyes concentrated on the little white ball that skittered from one end to the other. Those that occupied the room with them were loud and laughing, telling off the little squirt to quit changing the channels with his powers, but Kitty and Rogue were silent.

There was tension between them still, even though Rogue had claimed to Bobby that she came to an understanding with herself. But there was something occurring with her boyfriend that she could not turn a blind eye.

Bobby approached the foos-ball table, standing at the head, looking over the game. At his greeting, Kitty had looked up and smiled in response, causing Rogue to gain an easy score. Rogue scowled as she noticed an unconscious connection between the two as they made eye contact. It was times like this that made her formerly friendly relationship with Kitty Pryde turn sour.

The game between the two began to get real rough. Bobby noticed as Rogue's brow furrowed that she was concentrating extra hard, she wanted to win — just a game, be damned. And Kitty was doing her best to defend her goal. In just a few minutes several violent scores had been made by Rogue, and Kitty decided to retreat to her room. But before she left, Kitty turned around to face Rogue.

"Are you angry with me?" said Kitty softly.

"What do you think?" Rogue snapped, sending Kitty out of the room.

Bobby lingered and he looked at Rogue strangely. Though many of those that were in the room tried to pretend to be involved with the television show, it was rather obvious that their attention was centered on the moody couple. Piotr lounge in his chair doodling, but his hand was still and his eyes were glancing over the edge of his sketch pad.

"We need to talk," said Bobby, taking her gloved hands and leading her into the hall out of earshot. He stared at her for a short moment, trying to see the girl he saw three years ago. She had changed so much since the day they had first met. She never used to be this hurtful toward people.

"What's your problem, Rogue?" Bobby asked. "You said that when you went to cure yourself of your mutation some thoughts had occurred to you, that you were afraid to go through with it and that you would rather live with it. Yet you're still upset about something!"

"About _something_?" Rogue said cynically, her southern accent thickening with her mood. "Let me indulge you with some of my thoughts I've been having. I _hate_ my so-called gifts. I _hate_ that I cannot touch you without hurting you. I was desperate to share physical intimacy with you. I was thinking that the cure would allow our relationship to blossom into something great. But after raking over it, I'm not sure if sacrificing my mutation would have made anything different for us at all. What do you see for us in the future, Bobby?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is... I think you have a damn good idea what's in store for us," said Rogue. Then, as she walked away from a bewildered and angry Bobby, she added over her shoulder, "And I don't know what else to do besides just to watch it unfold."

* * *

The garage was filled with all of Scott Summers' many vehicles. Before, Scott had taken care of them himself, spending many hours adjusting and tuning, but now he was gone and the automobiles were ownerless. If it were not for Logan these beautiful and well tended machines would have fallen into neglect.

Lately, he had taken to keeping himself busy at all times. In the night he found it hard to sleep. The memory of his murder of Jean Grey had become the core of his nightmares. Her vivid red hair would glow by the fire and her beautiful green eyes glazed — the horror of the night on Alcatraz Island. He shook his head. Jean had crept back into his mind; he was reliving the night again. This is what happens if he does not stay busy: losing himself in day dreams of memories that he longed to forget.

He was checking under a heavily modified Mazda when he heard footsteps. Quickly Logan slid himself out from under the sports car to see lithe Jubilee walking toward him. He took a rag and wiped his greased hands.

"What is it about men and cars?" Jubilee mused.

"What is it about women and the mall?" Logan retorted. He knew Jubilee's favorite haunt was the mall.

Jubilee shrugged.

"Professor Munroe asked me to find you," she said. "She wants to see you in her office. I suppose it's important."

Logan pushed himself off the ground. He wondered what could be so important.

"Thanks, kid."

He began to walk away, but before he went too far Jubilee called back to him.

"Professor Logan," she said, "do you suppose you could teach me about mechanics one day?"

Logan raised one shaggy brow before nodding.

* * *

Ororo was waiting for Logan just as Jubilee had said. She sat with her head bent over the desk, looking rather sad. He rapped lightly on the door before entering completely. At first she seemed startled but then Logan noticed that her eyes were brimmed with tears.

"What's happened?" he asked concernedly, his fists balled up.

"Warren just delivered a package to me," she said sounding only slightly congested.

"How… terrible?" he said uncertain if that was the correct way to answer.

"No, Logan," said Ororo. She held up a small silver box. "Listen."

The small box was a tape recorder. Ororo pressed her thumb firmly on the play button. There was nothing on the recording except for air for the first several seconds. Logan made to ask what he was listening for but Ororo silenced him quick, gesturing for him to keep listening. Then, with his enhanced hearing, the faintest hiss could be heard.

A female voice came from the recorder loudly saying, "What was that? Say that again."

Logan watched as Ororo's finger adjusted the volume higher. He closed his eyes, concentrating on his hearing sense.

Again there was only air. It seemed almost pointless to continue listening. What was he even listening for? Then he heard it again; that strange sound. Only this time he could hear that there were words in it.

"Find the X-Men," said the breathless, wheezy voice.

"Charles…," said the loud female voice.

"Moira, find the X-Men," said the voice now booming.

Logan's eyes flew open as the tape clicked off. He stared at Ororo, confoundedness and wonder in his eyes. For a long while neither one of them said a thing. What they had just heard, the idea of it, seemed absurd. And yet—

"That's him, isn't it?" said Logan darkly, though he was obviously astounded.

"That's what it sounds like, Logan," said Ororo, trying to keep the calm in her voice. "It _could_ be him. And this letter from Doctor Moira MacTaggart claims that it is him and that he is demanding our presence."

"Well," said Logan, his hands held out impatiently. "What are we waiting for?"

* * *

The streets are quiet. Only the misting drizzle of the rain on the asphalt and buildings can be heard. He knows that she will come. His informants would not dare lie to him — the price for them is too costly. With eyes, as black as his thoughts, fixed across the street he watched… and he waited.

He thought about the last thing that his genius master said to him, and how it made his skin crawl with uneasiness. His master had threatened him with the penalty of death if he did not succeed in this, and he had only one shot to get it right.

She pulled up along the curb in an old Sedan. A square faced brunette in doctor's rags. As she stepped out of the car he saw that she carried a briefcase. He wondered what importance lay inside the case. Finally she stepped out of the calm rain and under the building's awning, unlocking the door.

He took one last long drag of his cigarette before stamping it out in a puddle and following the doctor. This was the moment — his moment — to prove his quality and life's worth. He clinked with each step as he moved toward the door.

The thunder that rumbled was a faint threat in the distance, hardly audible but menacing in its solitude.

* * *

Dusk was setting over the eastern sky. Some students sat at there personal desks doing their assigned homework. Many students casually hung around, watching television.

Outside, where the air was cool and humid, Kitty sat alone on a bench in the garden. She was staring up at the sky, watching the dark grey clouds of a storm roll over the soft colors of the approaching night. The sun burned fiery orange as it sank beneath the treetops.

Kitty was thinking about the school, about how much it had changed since she had first arrived, and how much the people in it had changed. She wished that things could have stayed the same, that Professor Xavier had never died, and Scott dying, and Jean dying in the persona of the Phoenix. She wished that Rogue would be friends with her again, that they would talk and pass notes to each other. More than ever she wanted to retreat to her home where her family, though alarmed at her mutation, still loved her.

The sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel pathway behind her alerted her. She glanced over her shoulder.

"Bobby," she said, smiling.

"Hey, Kitty," said Bobby. "Do you mind if I sit with you."

"No, not at all."

They sat there in silence for a while. Bobby was staring down at his hands and digging the toe of his boot into the gravel. She wondered what he was thinking about. For a moment she thought about asking him what was on his mind, but it seemed that he had finally found something to say.

"I want to apologize for Rogue's behavior," he said, still looking down at his hands. "I'm not sure what's wrong but it has nothing to do with you, Kitty."

"I've noticed that everyone's been changing," she said. "I wish that life were always simple and sweet. This confusion and depression is tiring. I can't help but feel alienated."

Bobby looked up at her and she smiled. His face looked so sincere; he really was sweet. He laid his hand on hers, gently stroking her skin.

Then it happened.

When it occurred it was natural, not forced or uncomfortable. Bobby was slowly leanly toward her and she felt pulled toward him too. Their lips met in a soft kiss that brought memories of warm summer days to Kitty's mind. When they pulled away she stared at him, unable to gather up and pronounce what her true feelings for Bobby were. He had a small smile on his face before it faded into a mysterious stare.

"Are you sad, Bobby?" she asked, caressing the side of his face.

He reveled in the palm of her hand before shaking his head in answer.

* * *

They had taken one of Scott's cars for the trip to New York City, where the mainland laboratory of Doctor MacTaggart was nestled. It would be a slower trip than if they had taken the Blackbird, but they surmised that it would be easier, and rather practical, to park a car in the city than a jet.

"It seems rather strange that we may be reunited with Charles," said Ororo softly.

Logan did not answer at first. Thoughts had been playing across his head. He knew the voice on the recorder was Xavier's, but it almost seemed too good to be true. Could it be true was what he wanted to find out. His blind excitement after hearing Xavier's voice had worn off after a while and had placed him in a perceptible brooding mood.

He stared at the buildings that passed in blurs through his window. In his minds-eye he could see Jean Grey, her body heavy in his arms as she collapsed and bled to death. How could such a beautiful, kind woman have such a dark, secret, murderous side as the Phoenix? Not only was Xavier her victim but she had even obliterated the man that she had chose above Logan himself.

"If this is in fact Xavier," said Logan slowly. "If he did, indeed, survive the Phoenix — is it possible that Scott —"

"No, Logan," said Ororo quickly, knowing exactly what Logan was about to ask. "Charles Xavier was — is — a powerful psychic and telekinetic. There's no way Scott could have survived against Jean. And we never found his body."

"Yea," mumbled Logan darkly. "That's what got me thinking."

They parked under the spotlight of a lamp post just outside the building. The streets were still damp from the rain earlier. Ororo shook the water from her shoe as she stepped in a puddle getting out. There was a clattering sound as something fell from behind them. Logan instinctively whirled around, his menacing claws bared. A small black cat mewed back at them, its green eyes glowing in the darkness.

Ororo and Logan exchanged serious glances.

"A bit jumpy tonight, aren't we, Logan?" Ororo asked as she headed toward the door.

"Something just doesn't feel right," he said in a low voice.

Indeed, Logan felt the tiny hairs on the back of his neck rise in an intuitive reaction to the surroundings. His dark eyes roved the shadowed environment, expecting an unknown evil to lunge at him from some unknown hiding spot.

Ororo paged with the intercom by the door. There was no response. She pressed the button again. Still there was nothing. Then she decided to knock. The door slowly swung open under the pressure of her fist. She glanced back at Logan who still had his claws exposed.

Slowly they entered the building, creeping along the dark hall and stairway. They did not know what room to find Xavier; they had expected the doctor to guide them to their mentor. But the darkness of the situation had changed that idea. Now, as was spotted by Logan, strange dark footprints on the white tile floor became their guide.

The prints went underneath a very plain white door marked by the numbers 212. Silently they entered the room, Ororo trembling slightly at the unknown and Logan's fists balled up in preparation.

The room was filled with medical instruments strewn haphazardly on the floor. The florescent lights were burnt out. Papers laid everywhere. Fluids that had once been contained in phials were busted on the floor. A smashed computer monitor sparked ominously.

Ororo rushed to the corner of the room where a patient's bed was tipped over. A small fire had caught on one of the sheets and Ororo stamped it out. There was no body laying anywhere near it.

Even stranger, there were odd metal clips left on the floor. Logan picked one up and examined, not certain what to make of it. He stood in the glow of the streetlight that came from one of the windows in the room, turning the clip between his fingers.

"Logan," said Ororo, sounding on the verge of being upset. "Look! These papers have three weeks worth of documentation on the body the professor's possessing; even journaling their travel from her personal laboratory to here." She held up a clipboard that had been attached to the bed. "Charles _must_ have been here and someone kidnapped him."

"And they kidnapped the doctor," added Logan. "But it appears who ever it was is gone now."

"How do you know that?" asked Ororo, still eagerly thumbing through the papers.

Logan stood over a mess of liquidly, sticky, dark substance like the footprints. It was smeared over the floor as if someone had almost lost their footing after stepping on it.

"Because those footprints we saw led out of the building," he said, pointing down at the mess, "and they started from right here."

* * *

Her eyes watered but she could not bring herself to shed a tear. The sight of her boyfriend kissing Kitty was the finishing blow to her suffering relationship with him. She quickly ran up to her dorm room and began to pack.

"I'm tired of dealing with this," she growled angrily to herself.

For what purpose now should she even stay at the school? Half the faculty was dead, her fatherly figure that she found in Logan was too pre-occupied in teaching and mourning Jean, and Bobby, her last hope for something meaningful, had betrayed her.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and stomped down the stairs. Her heart was pounding like an intense drum snare in her chest. When she reached the door, someone stopped her.

"Rogue?"

Rogue turned around to see Jubilee standing at the other end of the hall.

"Where are you going?" Jubilee asked.

"Away from here," said Rogue sourly.

"But why?" Jubilee shouted as Rogue slammed the door shut behind her.

* * *

Just as the door slammed shut, Warren came from behind her.

"What was that?" Warren asked.

Jubilee thought for a moment. _Surely she would come back._ Rogue looked as if she were really pissed off about something. Perhaps she just wanted some time to herself, to cool down from whatever upset her. _But then why did she have a packed bag?_

"That was just Rogue being Rogue," said Jubilee, almost nonchalantly. When Warren looked worried she added hurriedly, "She's just having her normal depression moment. She'll be back." _I hope._

* * *

_**To be continued...**_


End file.
